I know the ads say if you need something fixed, go to Craig’s list or the yellow pages or the classifieds in the newspaper. But none of those can help fix a couple of things that bother me right now. Here they are, and I hope you will appreciate that the list is bipartisan, nondenominational, and noncontroversial.
{1} I’m outraged and absolutely frustrated that Governor Tim Pawlenty vetoed bills in June that contained so many badly needed funds and measures that would have benefited so many Minnesotans. Applying his totally inflexible position of no new taxes to the gas tax—which hasn’t been increased in close to 20 years—is not only stupid, it’s a great disservice to every Minnesotan for decades to come.
The toughest thing in the world to spend money on is maintenance and upkeep of infrastructure, because it denies us the feel-good ribbon-cutting opportunity that comes with new projects and new programs. But it’s so terribly shortsighted to let our roads continue to deteriorate and to delay the aggressive expansion of our light-rail system. It’s also shortsighted to take the position that all such major expenditures for ensuring the future vitality of the state have to be paid for by our children and grandchildren, but absolutely not by us.
I’m also angry with the DFL legislative leaders. They knew full well the governor would veto any bill that included the “inflation clause,” which would have required finance officials to factor inflation into budget numbers. They knew they couldn’t override his veto—but they went right ahead and included the clause anyway. There are better ways to make a point than to do something that you know is going to result in everyone getting hurt. The absence of common sense on both sides is appalling. We deserve better, but does better even exist anymore?
{2} I recently spent some time in the new Gold Medal Park on the Mississippi riverfront, and what a treat that was. The park is so simple, so stunningly beautiful, and is a perfect counterpoint to the sheer hulk of the surrounding buildings—some of them handsome, some of them ugly as sin. It would have been a crime to sell this magnificent site to a developer who would have put yet another condo behemoth on the property. And yet that’s exactly what many among our municipal powers-that-be wanted to do—primarily because it would provide the city with considerable, much-needed revenue.
And then, just when it appeared all was lost, in strode the heroes, Bill and Nadine McGuire, pointing out what everyone already knew in their hearts: that with all the riverfront development of the past decade or two, what was urgently needed on that last big site was not another building, but green space. And then the McGuires—who, by the way, don’t even live in the city of Minneapolis—proposed an offer that absolutely floored me when I read about it. They offered to build a park there, hire the best landscape designers, plant hundreds of fully grown trees, include an underground watering system, and provide all the maintenance for 10 years, at which time the city would take over that responsibility.
It was an offer that would cost them many millions, an offer for which they would receive few thanks because most citizens would be oblivious to their generosity, and an offer that would no doubt result in somebody writing a letter to the editor complaining that his favorite variety of tree was not included. Despite all that, the McGuires’ plan moved forward with the persistent efforts of Councilperson Lisa Goodman and others. Now the citizens of Minneapolis are blessed with this gorgeous green space, right where it ought to be.
So what’s bothering me? I really believe this example of extraordinary generosity and private-public partnership should be named McGuire Park. It would be an absolutely appropriate way to salute and thank this remarkable couple.
